Tide tables finally available for Kilmore
FOR the first time, seafarers operating from Kilmore Quay will be able to have easy access to accurate tide times.
Before this, fishermen, leisure boaters and even harbour officials would have had to rely on tide tables produced for other places such as Great Saltee Island, Baginbun Head or even Pwllheli in Wales. While comparable, Dr Brian Coulter, the man behind the project, says that these are just not suitable for those operating out of Kilmore.
‘For example, tides at the nearest tide station, Great Saltee, are about 15 minutes later than Kilmore Quay and as this station is non-harmonic, low tide heights are not available,’ he explained.
‘Sometimes Pwllheli tide tables are used here, but these tides are more than two metres higher than in Kilmore Quay.’
‘In fact, up to this year, Kilmore Quay is the only working harbour on the East and South coast of Ireland that did not have its own tide tables.’
According to Dr Coulter, this information has grown even more important in recent years due to the silting near the entrance to the quay and the difficulty of access at low water.
He approached the Marine Institute of Ireland to ask them if they’d put a temporary tide gauge at Kilmore Quay to collect data, but they estimated it would cost in the region of €10,000 and they did not have the funds.
To get around this, Dr Coulter decided to build his own tide gauge and install it in the harbour. The UK Hydrographic Office agreed to accept the data and test it for validity. The Harbourmaster offered him a site with electricity and WiFi facilities; Dr Coulter supplied the rest.
The tide station collected tide heights every six minutes for six months, from early May to the end of October 2018. These were sent to the UK Hydrographic Office, who crunched the numbers and found that they could deduce the 54 harmonic constants to prepare tide tables for Kilmore Quay.
Coxswain at Kilmore Quay Lifeboat, Eugene Keogh, sponsored the printing of tide tables for 2020 and they are now available to purchase from Keogh Marine in Kilmore Quay with all proceeds going directly to the local RNLI.